The United States has its own Pompeii. Almost no one mentions it. It’s for the most part not covered in our history books. Relatively few tourists go to see it.
It’s only a “secret” in the sense that the esteemed curators of accepted US history have worked hard to forget and/or cover up the Native Americans who lived here for thousands of years before white dudes showed up to rock out with their smallpox out.
On the edge of the continental US, not far from Seattle, stands Cape Flattery and the home of the Makah indigenous community. In 1970 an amazing discovery was unearthed. A village frozen in time. A snapshot of life within an indigenous tribe that was hit by a terrible cataclysm around the year 1700. The Makah village of Ozette had occupied that area for between 2,000 and 4,000 years.
The town is so well preserved because it was entombed in a massive mudslide.
Miraculously, the mud had protected embedded organic matter by sealing it off from the air. As a result, thousands of well-preserved artifacts that would normally have rotted – from intact woven cedar baskets to dog-hair blankets and wooden storage boxes – were able to be painstakingly unearthed during a pioneering archaeological dig.
The Ozette excavation lasted for 11 years and retried 55,000 artifacts. Some have been radio-carbon dated to 2,000 years ago. However, there are organic waste dump sites that date to 4,000 years.
Every once in awhile we get a reminder that the colonizers and the forefathers of the United States are definitely the new kids on the block. When the entirety of the human history of this land is taken into account, George Washington showed up yesterday.
Most countries are proud of their ancient history. They triumphantly display it. They boast about it to attract millions of tourists every year. For some areas of the world, their ancient history is the number one attraction people want to see when they visit. But not in the US.
We jot down our deep history like it’s a footnote. We announce, “Come visit the US and go see the Lincoln Memorial or the White House or the State of Liberty.” Essentially we tell everyone to ignore the awe-inspiring mind-blowing ancient past of this land. It would be like visiting Egypt and ignoring the Great Pyramids while making sure to check out a 100-year-old falafel stand.
Why?
Because to appreciate the ancient past of the Americas is to be reminded of genocide. It’s a huge neon sign that reads, “The people who lived here were killed or made to be refugees in their own land. Much of their cultures were erased. Their history deleted. What remains is not important.” The ruling elite to this day want us all to focus on the white guys who came later.
The Makah people lived here for thousands of years — At least 10 times as long as the “United States” has existed, possibly far more. There are around 3,000 Makah still living in and around the Makah Reservation in Washington state. Their history has been preserved. It’s beautiful and breathtakingly fascinating.